The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-02-26
GREAT ARNiIES.
What the European Powers Can Put In the
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Apropos Of tho present disturbed condi-
ton Of European politics, and the pros.
pect that Gooper or later the Continent Is
to be embroiled in great conflict, 1t may
be OF interest to know exactly how the |
various nations which may be brought
into this conflict stand with respect to
their military and naval forces. The two
most beligerently disposed powers are
France and Germany, but there is appnr.
emily no telling, II they should decide TO
fight, how many other nations might be
drawn into tho struggle. England and
Russia have been cycling each other for q
long time with no very friendly looks, and
Austria has been doing o good deal Of war
talk In connection with the Balkan trou.
bio. II these nations should become in
tereated In tho fight, Italy, Spain, Turkey
and several OF tho smaller States as well
would evidently be forced TO take sides.
Tho following facta and figures have been
cleaned from tho last isgue Of the dina.
naca ae Goiha. In most cases they arc
corrected up to the beginning OF tho pres.
ent year, and they will be found interest.
ing and suggestive. t'E'
4 Although since tho Franco. Prussiau
war Germany haa been regarded as tho
frat military power Of Europe, In point OF
numbers France must be given tho prefer
ence. The statistics given show that the
standing army In the time Of peace, or tho
e6tclI de pair, as it'ia called, comprises
81, l40 oGlcers and 402, l43 mon, OF which
els, 593 arc infantry, Il sol cavalry, 0,352
artillery and 10000 engineers. Tho terri
torial army comprises troops OF all arms
except the chasaeur pied In Continental
France, and Is estimated ut 81, 900 officers
and $4,000 men. The effective force OF
war ID estimated at 2 ,420. 900 men, to which
are to be added l,300, 600 men so disposed
that they can DO hold In rcuervo without
military instruction, which bring the total
number up 10 about 8, zoo, 900 mon. TheEe
figures nr0 probably somewhat e1agger.
ated, as the information Ia not 80 readily
obtained, and 1t ia not the custom OF the
military authorities In France TO under.
rate their effective forcea. The navy OF
France consists OF 40 vesaelD, which in.
cludeH q armored men-of.war OF tho fret
class and u Of the second class. The ma
rine corps consists Of Al, 2227 men and 1872
oilicers. H..
The army Of tho German Empire con.
siats, on peace footing, Of 425,274 men
and 1918 officers, OF which 204 go arc
infantry, 1850 cavalry and 5l,lGG ar.
tillery. In times OF war, without tho
Lauds!rum and special levies, there may
may be called into requiaition an army OF
| or io7 ~; narr ap1 I ibn E7T ,,or ~ ,,,t;ab
number 74l,0 are campaigning troops,
260,5l4 reserves and .ilG.032 to be ON
Iployed in garrison servico, total Of loss
batialioDB. Tho navy consists OF 9s ships
OF 544 sune, ITS ,352 tonnage aud manned
with 1878 mon. The German navy, &C.
cording to the figures given, employs So
musicians,
The entire military iorce employed by
the British Government in time OF peace
consists OF 220,0G3 men. OF this number
there arc stationed in Great Britain and
Ireland 1906 cavalry, 1857 artillery,
and 74,0Sl infantry, and with other spec.
ial organizations making total OF 11G,Si3
men. The remainder Of the entire force
is made up Of IS, l9G men in India, &C, 1855
in the colonies, and S,S66 in Egypt. This,
Of course, doea not include the militia in
Great Britain, or the native armies in
Canada, India and the other colonies,
The native forces Of the British Empire
consist OF $3.50 sailors, l2,7O7 ma
rine troopa and "Royal Navy reserve" Of
%, SOB men, making total Of So, 700 as an
effective peace ,torco. The number OF
ships in the royal navy is 47G, including 81
armored cruisers, go steam vessels and
III sailing vessels. OF this number only
256 are in activity, haviugan armament Of
l ,455 cannon. No attempt is made by the
compilers OF the "Almansch de Gotha"
to estimate the number OF troops that
war might call into requisition. There
has also apparently been some difficulty
in obtaining accurate. figures with regard
to the effective military forces in Rnssia.
The peace footing is given at 80 $50 officers
and S5l, 1920 men, Of which 500, 26l are
campaign troops, 09,374 reserve, 97,7OO
local troops, and 1890 Cossacks, making
a grand total Of men and officers OF 500, lGl.
The war effective is estimated at ,O60, $40
men, 36G,354 horses and 1876 cannon.
Another estimate gives the entire force Of
infantry available in case OF war at $780,
600, while, adding to this the local militia
in several provinces. would bring the num-
Der to nearly 100000, The navy consists
Of SOL vessels and An equipment OF $4,000
mon. - E
The army OF Austro.H Hungary is placed
at q peace footing Of 26S,4l0 men aud 49,
0GS oillcers, which in times OF war can be
expanded in On available force OF 1885,
955 men end s., 673 officers, and the naval |
resources consist Of 0S ships, manned by
II sos men. The Austrian navy is not an
important factor in the military strength
Of the empire. .7.l."-''T
Italy has q powerful army, the standing
forces in times Of peace being S92. 6S7.
which IN the event OF war can be iucreas.
ed to 100000 or more, by calling on the
militia and the territorial soldiery, lis |
navy is tower Of strength to italy, which |
counts total Of ITO vessels, Of which IS |
are srmored, and among these are some Of |
the largest and most powerful engines Of |
war ever constructed. The naval forces
consist Of 1917 men. FF 5, 7'7
Spain has an effective force OF SO, sos in
1antry, l4,364 cavalry and 1880 artillery
on a peace footing, while for war the mill
tary force increased to 1874 $40 infantry,
2l,452 cavalry and 30,355 artillery, The
navy consists OF 1856 vessels, equipped with
force OF 1900 men. Turkey is the only
other European power whose influence in
politics Is OF any great Importance. As a
military power it ranks lowest of any Of
thoae which have been mentioned. It's
army comprises 9,S15 officers and LIS, Ia
men, and sitter mobilization tho war etfec.
tive 10 estimated at about 475, 900 men.
The fleet consists of IL armo,n1 sh;pn Az